The Process of Social Stratification

2017-11-17

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R.	Hi, Jane. I haven’t seen you for ages. You look great! How’s life treating you?
J.	Hi, Robert! Are you kidding? I haven’t had a night’s sleep! I am at the end of my wits! We are having a seminar in Social Science tomorrow and it’s all uncharted territory for me. What luck running into you! I need your help.
R.	Oh! I would be happy to be of any use for you. I would appreciate every bit of time with you! You know how I feel about you!
J.	Stop it, Robert! I feel really desperate. Be serious and help me, please!
R.	OK, Jane, I will. Let’s get down to serious matters. What issues are you currently discussing in class?
J.	The process of social stratification is the topic of the seminar. Of course, I can speak about it in general terms but our teacher requires us to provide extended definitions and lots of detail. My memory fails me when I try to explain how different forms of social stratification work in contemporary society. Sure, I’ll try to remember it. However, there are things beyond me.
R.	Don’t panic. I remember from my lectures on Sociology that early in human history, social structure was fairly simple, so most members of society had equal standing. As society grew and became more complex, some members were given more importance than others. This was the beginning of social stratification. All societies contain stratification, although such stratification takes different forms depending on the associated culture. Stratified societies have an unequal distribution of wealth and a hierarchical arrangement of people that is based on the amount of wealth and power they possess.
J.	As simple as that! Robert, you are an angel! Do you mean that in hunter-gatherer societies, everyone was interdependent? As I can see it now, the emergence of agricultural societies led to inequality because not everyone needed to be involved in food production. I guess it led to the division of labor and job specialization. Continue, please.
R.	That’s it, clever girl! The result was that some jobs were more highly valued than others. For example, manual laborers were much less respected than those involved in commerce or arts. The practice of accumulating land and possessions, which families passed onto future generations, was another source of stratification.
J.	I see your point. What about the Industrial Revolution? Didn’t it contribute to further stratification of society?
R.	Yes, it's absolutely true. You are getting up! Industrialization helped to expand stratification. Factory owners became wealthy through workers' labor, and a new layer of society emerged: the middle class. Later, factory owners moved closer to the aristocratic class in terms of wealth. Then, as industrial societies progressed, workers' earnings increased, and they purchased homes and other consumer goods. This group of workers started to move from the working class to the middle class, a process sociologists refer to as "embourgeoisement."
J.	It sounds much too alien for me.Could you put it in native words for me? However, I think, I’ve grasped the idea! I say, there’s still one thing I want to be aware of. What is ‘social mobility? It’s on the list of questions to be discussed at the seminar.
R. J. R.	You know, changes in a society's skill requirements have also had a major impact on social stratification. Technological societies generally experience an increased need for skilled, literate workers with expertise in specific processes rather than unskilled workers. The skills needed are acquired largely through education, and anyone from what is seen as a lower social stratum can move up by using education to improve his or her skills. The term for this movement is "social mobility." Thank you, Robert! You are the best teacher I have ever met. Now I feel I can live through it! How kind of you to be so resourceful! The pleasure was mine, Jane! What about going to the cinema tonight?

Task 1. Report the dialogue. Use the following reporting verbs:

Ø to develop the idea of …	Ø to explain that
Ø to conclude that	Ø to make a point...
Ø to argue that...	Ø to assume that...
Ø to insist on...	Ø to point out
Ø to focus on …	Ø to expand on
Ø to relate...	Ø to account for

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